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Saturday, January 9, 2010

Zermatt Day 1

Workout of the Day:

Elevated Deadlift 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1

Isometric deadlift 1, 1, 1

6 sets max repetition varied grip strict pullups

I arrived in Zermatt around 4:30 pm Friday afternoon and was greeted by my cousin Tate and Grandpa at the station.What a place.Ski villages are always beautiful, but this place sets a new standard in my book.The last leg of the train ride wound up a few thousand feet through narrow canyons and gorges, so the sights were incredible.Then I arrive in the village and the Matterhorn is looming directly in front of me.Unreal.

We had dinner reservations at 7, so Tate and I snuck down to the hotel gym to do a little heavy lifting.The facility was limited, but we found enough weights lying around to piece together a pretty decent deadlift routine.The plates were smaller than usual, so the bar position was that of standing on a bumper.Also, the bar felt a little light, so the weights are based on a 15 kg bar weight (estimated).My 3rd single was at 185 kg, and it felt strong.I was about to go to 195, but thought better of it considering the full day of skiing ahead of me.Tate concurred and likewise kept his weights sub-maximal.We then did 3 x 6 second isometric pulls with 225 kg, working on perfect form at the bottom.Really liked this.Isometrics are something I never do, but have read about the benefits for years.I could feel all the right muscles working, and when you know you’re not going to lift the bar anyways, the form tends to stay tighter.

After the deads, we did 6 sets of pullups using a free hanging climbing apparatus.It had all sorts of different grip positions for rock climbers to build finger, forearm, and grip strength, so we had a good time getting creative.

With an early morning on the slopes coming (my first time in a decade), we knew not to get too carried away.All in all, though, it was a good start.